My Choice
by Lunar lit skies
Summary: Waking up in a strange world with no memories is odd, especially when this foreign world is filled with creatures of fantasy that escape reality. As it turns out, Haruka is not the only person who has undergone such a strange fate. How is something like this possible? Why does Haruka feel so desperate, as if something is very wrong? Who are these people he finds himself drawn to?
1. Chapter 1

My Choice

Chapter 1: Prologue

_Disclaimer: I do not own Free! Nor do I own any of the characters found within it._

It was all over. Those were the only words Haruka could find to describe his current situation. Everything he had ever known was preparing to end; his friends, memories, hopes, and even dreams would cease to exist as soon as his consciousness was swallowed by the machine blaring before his eyes. It was an unfortunate inevitable fate, yet it was the only way he would ever have a chance of saving them.

It was a huge risk, there was a chance that he would never remember what he had set out to do. Despite this fact, Haruka knew there was truly no other way to return them to this world, the REAL world, where they belonged. In order to achieve this goal, sacrifices had to be made. If he were to give up his life for it, so be it.

Several cloaked figures around him urged him toward the machine towering in front of him. Its lights flashed spontaneously and without any set rhythm or pattern. Watching the lights dance around the grey room could easily drive a man mad. But the lights were not the only thing off about the machine, it had a queer sound too. Each time specific lights flashed a small rumble would travel through the machine, letting out a metallic buzz. If there was a room designed to prepare a man for hell this was easily it. Haruka couldn't help stifling a chuckle in spite of the current situation. This entire thing was madness! How… how could he have thought that he could be strong enough for this?

As if sensing his doubt, the people around him gave him a sharp nudge, forcing to continue forward. He couldn't turn back now even if he wanted to, he would be forced into this even if he fought and screamed against it. There was a point when the people driving him forward stopped. He had to go on to the machine alone now, they couldn't risk their own necks now could they?

As he approached the machine his footsteps echoed ominously around the dim room. "Stop!" one of his accomplices were speaking to him now. "Stay in that exact spot." Haruka came to a stop. So was this it? He briefly considered the idea of running. Maybe if he ran they wouldn't be able to catch him and he could get out of this. Maybe there was some other alternative. Maybe-

"Kid I'm no fool. I can read distress in people's eyes. You've come too damn far to turn back now. You're going to do this, no exceptions. If we need to, we will gladly drag your unconscious body into this. It doesn't make much of a difference to us whether you enter conscious or not, but I assure you that it would be a lot better if you materialized without any brain damage."

_Materialized._ That single word sent a chill through haruka's body, freezing him into place. As he waited, a slight change began to take place in the machine's rhythm. The lights began to speed up in their flashes, and the buzzing sound began to grow continuously louder. As the machine sped up, small holes in the machine began to open up, seemingly unscrewing themselves from the body of the mechanical artifact. Several thin appendages crept out of the new holes in the machine, quickly growing in length. The newfound "legs" of the machine towered over Haruka. The flashing lights mixed with these legs cast dancing shadows around the dim room. They slowly turned their points toward Haruka's body, aiming their gazes at him.

The tips of the legs began to glow with a pale light. Smoke curled off the edges, and a silver liquid began to drip to the floor from where the light originated. It was melting. Whatever this light was, it was coming out. It was going to hit him. Haruka realized this must be how it's done. This was undoubtable going to hurt him like hell.

Haruka shut his eyes, bracing himself for the impact. He couldn't hear the machine anymore; the sound of his heartbeat drowned out all noise. Sweat ran down his body. He was looking death in the face, and had no way to run away. All he could do was embrace this fact.

That was the moment when the light hit. It blared into his body, causing a slight sizzling sound to fill his ears. It was worse than being burned, frozen, or drowned. Haruka snapped open his eyes, only for his vision to be filled with alternating flashes of darkness and that blinding light. The pain was indescribable, unbearable, and unnatural. It was the pain of a body being torn apart and sucked away, piece by piece, molecule by molecule. He opened his mouth to try to scream, but found that he could no longer feel his tongue. It was gone.

Slowly, he felt his mind drifting away as his body was taken apart. He felt his memories slipping away from him. Faces of two people merged into one, memories of his life swirled around and disappeared in a nauseating spell. He wanted to reach out and grasp them before they slipped away into nothingness. They were leaving, and they wouldn't be coming back. Ever.

As Haruka's last strands of consciousness began to fade away, he managed to pull forth one last precious memory. The light in their eyes, their gentle smiles, the faces of the people dearest to him. As his mind faded away, Haruka was glad that his last thoughts could be of them.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: MEM CLRD

_Disclaimer: I do not own Free! nor any of the characters found within it._

It was so dark. So peaceful. So warm. Darkness gently flowed around and caressed Haruka's body. It was the feeling of complete and utter bliss; if this was a dream he never wanted to wake up again. Yawning, Haruka snuggled deeper into the darkness, embracing its gentle warmth.

Something sharp poked at him, forcing his consciousness forward. Still resisting, Haruka struggled to drag back the darkness, the peaceful warmth. The persistent prodding turned to shakes. This land of comfort was ripped away from him as Haruka's mind was dragged out into the open.

"Hello? You're alive right? Come on, wake up! I know it is fun to oversleep sometimes, but this is not the place for it!" As Haruka's mind reeled, a shrilly little voice filled his ears. "Come on! I'm not going to be able to drag you to that town myself!"

"Nagisa, relax." A deeper voice entered the conversation. "If it comes to it I will carry him, but by the looks of it that won't be needed." He felt someone, probably the deeper voiced of the two, shake him in gentler fashion in an attempt to rouse him. Slowly, Haruka opened his eyes.

Light flooded his vision, blinding him. Two blurred figures stood out amidst the light. Blinking, Haruka struggled to focus his vision. He could swear he felt the world spinning. It was sickening, nauseating. He struggled to pull himself up, feeling the slight tickle of grass beneath his palms. As he fought to stand, he felt something grasp him. A large hand had reached out and grabbed his own, and was now tugging his unsteady body to his feet.

Haruka turned his blurry gaze toward the one who had helped him. As his vision began to focus, the features of a young male began to unravel out of the blur. He was a fair amount taller than Haruka's own body, broader, and much more muscular. His head consisted of a pair of green eyes and light brown hair. The man gave him a small smile.

"You're finally awake! If you didn't wake up, I was going to have to drag you to town all by myself!" A sudden outburst by the man's companion snapped his attention to the owner of the voice. This one was practically the complete opposite of the first. His body was much smaller than Haruka in stature, much thinner, and had curly blonde hair accompanied by a set of rosy eyes.

The first man laughed at this. "Nagisa, Weren't you saying a few minutes ago how you would never be able to take him back to town by yourself?" The one called Nagisa pouted.

"Mako-chan, you don't have to tell him that!"

Haruka coughed. The two sets of eyes quickly turned back toward him, embarrassed. The brunet spoke up first. "Ah… sorry about that. Trust me I know how confused you must be right now," He paused for a moment. "I guess we should go ahead and introduce ourselves? My name is Makoto Tachibana, and this is-"

"My name is Nagisa Hazuki!"

Makoto jumped at Nagisa's sudden outburst, spooked. He remained tense for a moment, then relaxed again. It was easy to tell Makoto was not a person who enjoyed scary or sudden activities. Nagisa was giggling at himself. Sighing, Makoto continued his speech. "What is your name?"

"Haruka Nanase. Just call me Haru."

Makoto nodded at the curt reply, registering the name in his brain. "Well then, Haru, do you know where you are?"

Haruka glanced around, taking in the setting for the first time. His blood froze. Haruka felt his eyes subconsciously widen. "W-wh-what-," Haruka struggled to control his unsteady voice. "What… What is this?"

Grassland stretched out in front of him in all directions for about a mile, but that was the point when things started changing. Random points of the earth shot up into tall plateaus, with each plateau being cloaked in some sort of silvery vine. The vines spiraled upward on the side of the plateaus, spinning toward the sky. Several giant fish-like creatures drifted casually around the twisted vines, weaving in and out of their tangles; riding gracefully upon the wind.

Water cascaded down from the tops of the plateaus, reflecting strands of the vine's silver light upon the earth below. The luminous water seemed to flow into the air and vanish, with its mighty force vanishing into the atmosphere. Giant creatures prowled under these falls, seemingly boasting their might to the world.

The creatures were magnificent and unlike anything Haruka knew existed. Long legged mammals raced across the plains, their long floppy ears flying like a banner behind them. A small insect buzzed around his head. He swatted at it, snatching it up in his hands. This was no insect. It was small and furry, with a tiny pair of bat-like wings. The creature looked up at him, blinked, and then casually drifted out of his hands upward.

Haruka turned his gaze upward toward the sky. It looked like a mirror, silvery yet reflective. It was as if someone was looking up toward the surface from the bottom of a clear blue sea. The sky was an endless ocean of moving silvery glass. It was something of unimaginable beauty, something that one could only see to believe.

"Amazing isn't it?" Makoto spoke up. "I couldn't believe it the first time I saw it either."

Haruka frowned. Confusion was beginning to flood his mind. Why was he here? In fact, where was he from? A slow panic began to engulf him. He struggled to recall something, anything, about himself yet all he kept running into was a blank wall. This made no sense. If this was where he was born, why was it so unreal to him? He struggled to pull any useful information to himself. He knew the names of land formations, animals, and had the capability to speak. But, how did that apply to this place? The creatures and the land of this place weren't what his mind knew. He wasn't from here, but if that was true, how did he wind up in such a place?

"Ah! You're confused aren't you Haru-chan? That's okay! If you weren't confused you'd be crazy!" Nagisa burst into his thoughts. He really seemed to have a tendency to do that to people.

"Don't call me Haru-cha-"

"You don't remember anything do you?"

Haruka stared at the grinning boy, dumbfounded. How did he-

"Aha! I knew it! Don't worry, you're not alone here!" Nagisa pointed toward himself, then towards Makoto. "Makoto and I both have gone through the same thing. In fact, a good majority of the people here had the same thing happen to them. So cheer up!"

Haruka blinked, then turned towards Makoto. "You don't remember anything? You woke up here, like this, too?" Makoto nodded.

"When I woke up here I couldn't remember anything other than my name and some basic information. I could easily tell that this place wasn't one that I was accustomed to, but I didn't know, and don't know, what the place that I was from was, or is, exactly." Makoto turned toward Nagisa."The same goes for Nagisa. Both Nagisa and I woke up in close range of each other at around the same time. While we were wandering around lost we ran into each other. Due to our similar situations decided to stick together."

It made sense. Sticking with another person would probably be the wisest choice when dealing with a situation like this. "How long has it been since you two woke up?"

"Two months, maybe three months at most."

Makoto looked Haruka over for a moment, then spoke, "If you want, we would be glad to help you. We're traveling to a nearby town right now, and you need a place to stay for now…right?" Haruka frowned. Sensing his discomfort, Makoto added in,"Ah! I didn't mean that you have to stay with us! I just mean that for the time being it would be a lot safer if you came with us for now. We need to get you to a safe place at least!"

Haruka narrowed his eyes at the pair. They didn't seem to be harmful people, but it was only natural he should be wary of people he just met. He knew he wouldn't be able to survive out here alone at the moment. For the time being he was going to need to listen to these people. Once he had gotten to safety, he would find a secluded spot and try to figure things out on his own. He didn't need nosey people interfering with his business, no matter the circumstances.

Haruka gave a reluctant dip of his head. "Alright."

Nagisa's eyes shined. "Don't worry Haru-chan! We are going to be great friends, I can feel it! In fact, I'm one hundred percent sure of it!"

Haruka sighed, this was giving him a headache. It was too much to take in, in too little time. Being thrown into a world with no memory was one thing, now he had to deal with a bunch of loud strangers as well. Strangely enough, he felt he could trust these people. It was like he could sense that they only held good intention toward him. It gave him a strangely warm, nostalgic feeling.

Makoto had turned away from the two, and was rummaging through a backpack he had been carrying. He pulled out something wrapped in a fuzzy cloth, and handed it to Haruka. Haruka carefully uncovered what was inside. A cool steel blade glinted in the light. He turned towards Makoto, confused.

"You're going to need something to defend yourself if you get attacked. I understand that this isn't a very… effective item for defense, but in this world it's one of the best weapons we have." Makoto looked uncomfortable. He obviously didn't like talking about such gruesome matters. So that's what it was like here. Kill or be killed. It was so brutal, so animalistic, but the basics of all life.

Nagisa decided to break the tension. "Don't worry Haru-chan! Mako-chan has never hurt anything, he can't stomach the thought of killing for survival." He stuck his tongue out at Makoto. "I know he's big and all, but he's really just a big softy. Hahaha!"

Makoto gapped at the blonde haired boy. "Nagisa!"

"Yeeees Mako-chan?"

"Don't just announce that to anybody! That's none of your business!"

"Awwww… but Haru-chan looked so uncomfortable! I wanted to prove to him not everyone here is some sort of crazy killer." Nagisa winked at Makoto, causing the later to sigh in exasperation. These two must really be comfortable around Haruka to say such personal things. If he was some sort of criminal it would be easy to kill them both. In fact, he could kill them with the blade they just gave him to top it off!

The two continued to bicker for a minute, then regained their composure. Nagisa pointed toward the west. "The villiage that we are heading to is that way. We really should start off soon… We're going to have to stop somewhere for the night before getting there, and these plains are not an ideal spot for camping. It gets really dangerous at night around here…"

Makoto nodded in agreement. "He's right."

They both turned toward Haruka, giving him a questioning look that seemed to ask for his permission. He nodded.

"Let's go onward then!"

Night was beginning to creep over the land. Haruka looked up towards the watery sky. There was no sun, but the sky was beginning to darken into a deep violet. It was as if the sky was the light of this world, changing the color of its light yet always shimmering in its watery pattern. The trio had traveled for several hours now. Haruka had kept silent for the most part, preferring to listen to Nagisa and Makoto's banter rather than partake in it.

The land had gradually began to become rougher, with several hills and small forests. The forests of this place were a mystery to him. Instead of having long, tall trees the forests consisted of strangely twisted foliage. These 'trees' twirled and spiraled in their shaped, with their branches descending towards the ground then at random points jutting upward again. The 'leaves' on the trees were unattached to these branches, and merely floated around the tree's surrounding area. It looked somewhat like a glowing green snowstorm.

As the sky finally faded into complete darkness, they found a spot suitable to rest for the night. The land in this area had sloped downwards into a hill, forming a small nook that would keep them out of a predator's sight. Makoto unraveled two small sleeping bags, then looked at Haruka apologetically.

"Oh… sorry Haru… we only brought two, when we set out we didn't think we would need a third…" He glanced back towards his bag, then began to rummage through it. He pulled out several sets of clothing and handed it to Haruka. "I know it's not much… If you want I'll sleep using these and you can-"

"No, it's fine." Haruka shook his head. This guy was too considerate, he was lucky enough to get anything to sleep with.

"Are you sure? Because I'm fine with-"

"I said it is fine." Haruka spoke firmer this time, making sure to get his point across.

Makoto opened his mouth as if to protest again, then shut it. He could probably tell it was going to do no good to argue with him. Sighing, Makoto began to settle down. Nagisa was already asleep, snoring softly. Soon, Makoto joined in. Haruka was left awake, staring at the sky's wave-like movements.

He felt restless, and uncomfortable. Sweat from traveling had built up on his body and was sticking to his clothes. Sighing, Haruka carefully pulled himself upward, making sure not to wake his companions. He crept away from the group, and decided to go for a run to try to clear his thoughts. He would be careful not to stray too far from the group in case he ran into trouble.

With these thoughts set firmly in his mind, he began to set off. He traveled the perimeter of the campsite, and was preparing to turn back when something light and shimmering caught his eyes. Haruka watched, transfixed, and then began to approach the source of the light. He quickly sped up once he realized what it was, excitement growing in his heart. He was practically sprinting towards the light and had to come to a fast, unstable stop, almost losing his balance.

It was a lake. It shimmered and gleamed, reflecting the flawless sky. The water was clear and pure, shining with its vibrant beauty. Haruka reached out and touched the water, it felt crisp and cool. He slowly entered the lake, sighing in bliss as he felt the water's cool acceptance. He felt comfortable here, the helping clean his body and mind. He casually drifted towards the center of the pool, staring up at the sky. In this brief moment of peace, Haruka felt free. In this beautiful water, he felt like the world made sense again.

Makoto began to stir from his sleep. He opened his eyes and quickly realized it was still night. He turned towards the place where Haruka had been resting. There was a pile of balled up clothing, but no person accompanying them. _What? _Makoto quietly pulled himself out of his sleeping bag and examined the area. Had something happened to him? Had he panicked and ran away? These thoughts jerked Makoto's sleep away and he began to survey the area. He noticed a pair of footprints leading away from the group. It didn't take long for Makoto to decide to follow them.

Makoto felt his heart begin to beat faster, the sound flooding his ears. _What if Haru is hurt somewhere? What if he is dead? _With these thoughts wracking is brain, Makoto began to sprint after the trail of footprints. They didn't seem to stray far from the camp, but he still had to make sure that Haru was okay. If something happened to him, he would never be able to forgive himself. Makoto caught sight of a watery light. Dashing towards the light he burst towards the pool of water.

There was a pool of water, and he noticed a body drifting casually around the center. _Is he drowning? _Panicked, Makoto lunged into the pool, sending drops of water into the air. He snatched Haruka's arm and began to tug him back towards the land in a frenzy.

"Wha- Hey! What are you-"

Makoto ignored Haruka's shocked cries as he dragged him back onto land. He felt something slam into him, pushing him backwards. He looked down to see Haru's eyes burning with a cold blue fire. "What the hell was that? Am I not allowed a single moment of peace?!"

Makoto looked at him confused. Haru wasn't hurt in any way, in fact it looked like he was much cleaner than before. _He wasn't drowning? So then… _Makoto felt his face begin to burn. He had made a really big mistake.

Haruka glared at man in front of him. What the hell was his problem? All he wanted was a moment of peace. The second he gets one, this idiot jumps in and drags him forcefully out of it. Makoto avoided Haruka's glare, burning with embarrassment. He seemed to have realized his error. Haruka sighed.

"What were you getting so worked up for? It's not like I'm some helpless kid who doesn't know how to swim."

"Uh… yeah… sorry… I guess I just overacted when I didn't see you at the camp..."

Haruka huffed and strolled past him. There was no longer any reason to be here, Makoto had completely killed the mood. "Just forget about it," Haruka grumbled. As he headed back towards the camp, he heard Makoto shuffling along behind him. _He needs to stay out of my business. What an idiot._

When they arrived back to camp, Haruka finally began to settle down. That encounter with Makoto had worn him out, he didn't want to be awake any longer. Closing his eyes, visions of this place flooded his mind. The animals, the plants, the people. Why did he, and the others, not have any memory? Why were they here? As his consciousness began to drift away, one last though stood out in his mind.

_Why… why am I here?_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own Free! Nor any of the characters found within it._

_Note from the author__: Thank you for the positive review! I'll try to update this story whenever possible, but it makes me glad to hear you are enjoying it! If anyone has any constructive criticism feel free to tell me, there's always room for improvement!_

Haruka blinked open his eyes. It was morning. Light was beginning to trickle down onto the campsite through the twisted trees, casting dark shadows onto the group below. It didn't take long for the other two group members to being to wake up too. Nagisa yawned, pulling his body upward. He stretched his arms, giving off a small popping noise. Noticing Haruka, he turned to face him.

"Oh, Good morning Haru-chan!" Nagisa flashed him a cheerful grin. "Sleep well last night?"

"I slept well enough." Haruka noticed Makoto beginning to shift slightly, stirring from his sleep. He narrowed his eyes, recalling the events from last night. He must've stared a bit too long, as Nagisa quickly noticed his glare.

"Hmm… Something happen between you two?"

"No. It was nothing."

Nagisa shook his head, not buying his response. "Mako-chan means well. He can be a bit… thick at times, but I'm sure that he didn't mean to cross you," he smiled at Haruka. "He's really sensitive you know. I'm sure his heart was in the right place."

Haruka blinked, then glanced back towards Makoto. He seemed to have just woken up, blinking away the strands of sleep from his eyes. He knew that Makoto had not meant any harm by his actions, but it was a bit too much. He was an adult; he didn't need someone else to try and take care of him. A person who meddled in someone else's life like that could only be an annoyance.

Makoto slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Morning Nagisa… Morning Haru-chan…"

Haruka felt a spark of irritation course through him. "Lay off the 'chan'!" He snapped. Makoto jerked back in surprise at his outburst. Haruka felt himself inwardly wince, he had probably spoken a bit too forcefully. Makoto lowered his gaze, somewhat sullen.

"Right. Sorry… Haru…" Makoto mumbled.

"… Just don't do it again." Haruka huffed, gathering the scattered clothing. He stuffed them into Makoto's backpack, grimacing at the wetness the clothes gave off. They must have gotten damp after be returned to camp last night, hopefully they wouldn't mildew.

Nagisa rummaged through his own backpack, searching for something. His features gradually began to grow panicked. He tossed clothes around, blindly searching through the bag. Finally once he had emptied all of the bag's contents, he began to cry.

"Mako-chan! We don't have any food!" Nagisa wailed.

Makoto sighed, gathering the discarded clothing into a neat pile. "We went over this yesterday morning Nagisa. We agreed we would eat when we arrived at the town before we stocked up on supplies." He gave Nagisa a disappointing glare. "I told you that we should have had less for breakfast so that we would have enough to eat later on, but you insisted that you would be able to wait until we got to town."

"I was wrong! I'm starving Mako-chan!" Nagisa dramatically flopped onto the ground, flailing his arms. "Leave me here! I'm just a burden to you now! Go ahead and leave me to die…" Nagisa rolled onto his back, squeezing his eyes shut and sticking his tongue out. It looked like he was trying to imitate some kind of dead animal.

Makoto carefully repacked Nagisa's discarded belongings, ignoring the tantrum. Nagisa didn't faze him at all, he must be accustomed to these behaviors. Once he had finished cleaning up the mess, Makoto glanced over to Haruka. "Are you prepared to set out?"

"Yes." Haruka glanced over towards Nagisa. "What are we supposed to do about him?"

Makoto shook his head. "He'll calm down in a minute. You know," Makoto raised his voice, "The sooner we set out the quicker we can eat." The words seemed to have worked as intended; Nagisa paused, then jumped up. He darted over to Makoto, snatching his backpack out of Makoto's hands.

"Well then we better get going!" Nagisa beamed.

-.-.-.-

Soon after the group set off, the sky gradually began to darken. Tiny droplets of rain fell from above, cascading onto the travelers below. Wind smacked against Haruka's face, drenching him with hundreds of cool raindrops. The sound of the gale was deafening. He struggled after the two people in front of him, making sure not to lose sight of their dark forms. He was afraid that if he lost sight of them for a second he would be left alone, lost within the storm. If that were to happen… Haruka didn't even want to think about it.

Nagisa looked back towards Haruka. "You okay Haru-chan?!"

Struggling to make a vocal response, Haruka gave him a quick series of nods in reply. Satisfied, Nagisa returned his gaze in front of him. Haruka felt worry begin to creep over him. If this storm didn't stop soon they were going to be in big trouble. _Do these two even know where they are going? _Haruka opened his mouth to express his doubt, but was cut off by a relieved gasp from Makoto.

"Over there, look!"

Makoto had raised his arm and was pointing towards a grey mesh in the distance. At first glance, it just seemed to be a set of rocks or hills caught in the middle of the storm, but upon closer examination Haruka found that he could see tiny flickers of light within the formation. That must be the village they were talking about. Quickly the group began to sprint towards the imposing village.

Panting, the trio burst through the entryway of the village. Aside from one or two stragglers, there didn't seem to be many people willing to be out during such a strong storm. Makoto walked towards an old bearded man huddled in the shade of a nearby building. He bowed politely. "Excuse me sir, but do you know where a nearby tavern is? Or somewhere we would be able to stay for a few days?"

The old man grunted, glaring at Makoto with his sightless brown eyes. "Keep going down this street then turn left, should be a tavern there."

"Ah, thank you sir."

The man didn't acknowledge Makoto's reply. He shuffled away, muttering something about the weather. Following the man's instructions, the three arrived at a shaggy tavern called _The Stragglers. _Haruka couldn't help but smirk at the name. An inn called _The Stragglers _made for a bunch of stragglers. How fitting.

Nagisa swung open the entry door, forcing his way into the old wooden building. Lamps filled with tiny glowing animals decorated the walls and provided the room with a gentle yellowish light. Haruka shook himself off, eager to be out of the pouring rain outside. A redheaded girl dozed on a wooden desk, snapping to attention once she noticed the visitors. She looked them over, then jumped up eyes beaming.

"Welcome! You must be here to stay the night right?"

Makoto stepped forward. "Yes, we were planning on staying several nights actually. I hope you don't mind-"

"Oh, that's simply wonderful! I haven't gotten any residents who are so…" She ran her eyes over the group again. "…Muscular, in such a long time! We have two rooms available at the moment, and if you want them it will cost you about four bronze coins per room a night. Deal?"

Makoto scratched his head. "That's pretty cheap for two rooms…"

The redhead smiled. "Oh, they normally cost a bit more than that… but the only customers I ever get here are old and haggard folks. I'm not going to turn down the chance to FINALLY have some decent looking men around here!" Haruka felt her gaze scraping over him. He shuddered, the girl's looks were sharp, predatory even. It was like she was inspecting a beautiful animal that was being prepared to be taken to the slaughter. Haruka made a mental note to himself to be sure to never get on this girl's bad side.

The redhead returned to her desk, shifting through the pile of papers on top of it. "Let's see now… We serve breakfast every morning for free, but we also provide meals later in the day too. However, if you want one of those meals you will have to pay for them."

Nagisa perked up at the mention of food. He shot Makoto a pleading look, to which Makoto gave him a brisk nod of approval. Nagisa beamed happily at the reply, then trotted over to the girl's desk.

"We would like to get one of those meals now please!" The girl glanced up from her papers, nodding in satisfaction.

"Understood, right away mister!" The girl paused, thinking. "You know, I don't think I ever caught your names. Would you care to tell me?"

Makoto stepped forward. "My name is Makoto Tachibana," Makoto gestured towards Nagisa. "That's Nagisa Hazuki, and the one over here is Haruka Nanase." Makoto stole a glance over at the girl's desk. A small nameplate rested on the edge. "… and your name is …Gou Matsuoka?"

The smile faded from the girl's face, replaced by a sudden intensity. "It's pronounced Kou! K.O.U. Kou!" Makoto staggered backwards, surprised. Haruka snorted in amusement, this was the second time today he managed to irk someone regarding to how to say their name.

"Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you!" Makoto stammered. Gou sighed in dismay. She waved him off him her hand.

"It's fine, It's fine… Everyone makes the same mistake… Just don't do it again and we won't have any problem, alright?"

Makoto nodded earnestly, relieved that she had forgiven him so quickly. Nagisa giggled, amused at the scene in front of him. He was probably already planning on purposely mispronouncing the girl's name. Typical Nagisa.

After the introductions had passed, Gou led the group to a small room filled with a cluster of tables and chairs. Seating them at one of the tables, she left the room for a bit. Makoto was counting some coins in his pocket, checking how much money the group had. The coins were decorated in two different colors. One coin was a dull bronze color, the other was a light silver.

Haruka decided to speak up. "Hey, Makoto… What exactly are those?" He gestured towards the coins.

"Oh these? This is the currency in this world. Bronze coins are worth a single unit of money, Silver coins are worth about twenty bronze." Makoto finished counting the money, then stuffed it into a small pouch. "We don't have a lot of them at the moment, so we need to be really careful on how we spend them. Money is precious here."

Haruka nodded, it only made sense that they would have some form of currency here. "How do you guys make money? In fact," Haruka paused, then continued. "What do you guys DO exactly? Why did you come to this village in the first place?"

Nagisa piped up. "We are travelers! We've been traveling all over, finding rare materials, slaying monstrous beasts, and making new discoveries! Doesn't it sound so exciting?!" His eyes sparkled like gems, clearly excited to be talking about their travels.

Makoto laughed. "Really Nagisa? You make it sound like we're heroes straight out of a fairy tale." He shook his head in amusement. "We are travelers, but what we do isn't nearly as exciting as Nagisa makes it out to be. We basically scour the lands for materials, constantly drifting back in forth between cities and villages. When we make our stops we sell whatever we managed to acquire, restock on necessities, and then just set out again. It's just one unending pattern really."

"Then why do you continue to do it?"

Makoto paused, thinking carefully about Haruka's words. "That's a good question…" Makoto spoke so softly Haruka couldn't tell if Makoto was responding to him or murmuring to himself. Makoto spoke up clearer this time.

"I guess there is some truth the Nagisa's words, it can be rather exciting at times, traveling. But, I think we are mainly doing it as a way to figure things out. Maybe, just maybe, if we continue to travel, if we continue to search, we could find some sort of answer to why we are here." He closed his eyes. "To be honest I'm terrified. Waking up in this place with not even a single strand of memory from your past, it's just too odd. There has to be something… Something out there…" Makoto's voice dwindled off.

Haruka shifted his gaze between the two men in front of him. This whole time they had been together they had acted rather lighthearted about their current situation. Now within the walls of the tavern, their mask had fallen away. They looked so fragile, so helpless. Haruka hadn't even taken a moment to consider how they must have truly felt about this place, maybe he had thought they had grown accustomed to it in the time they had spent here. Evidently, he had been wrong.

Gou burst into the room, breaking the tension of the moment. She was attempting to balance several plate of food in her arms, swaying unevenly. She comically shambled over to the table, nearly tripping with every step.

"Okay, we have your food nice and ready! Be sure to eat it fast, it tends to cool quickly."

Makoto dipped his head gratefully. "Thank you Go- err, Kou."

Gou shot him a warning glare, noticing how close he came to calling her 'Gou'. Carefully, she placed the plates down onto the table. The meal was fairly simple, a cooked slab of meat with greens, but the sight of the food quickly alerted the group to how hungry they really were. Nagisa didn't waste a single second before tearing into the meal, devouring the food in quick gulps.

Haruka took a bit more time with his food, carefully tasting it before beginning to eat. It tasted strong and gamey, but it wasn't inedible. He found that he didn't mind the taste too much after he began eating, it had a nice texture to it. Not to mention he hadn't eaten in more than a day, so it was a relief to get any kind of food into his body.

"Ah… That was so good!" Nagisa declared, finishing off the rest of his plate. Gou smiled.

"I'm glad you liked it Mr. Hazuki."

Nagisa looked at her quizzically, then burst out laughing. "Mister Hazuki?! Did you hear that Mako-chan? I'm a mister now!"

Makoto chuckled. "Please Kou, You don't need to be so formal! Feel free to call us by our normal names okay?"

Gou brightened at this. "Of course, thank you… Makoto. I would probably feel a lot more comfortable addressing you that way anyway… But I'd rather be safe than sorry you know?"

The four seemed to settle down at the warm atmosphere, clearing out any traces of the sullen mood earlier. As they continued to banter one another, slowly the pouring rain outside came to a stop. Mingled voices began to creep into the air, waking the town up after its brief rest. People were beginning to pour back into the streets, filling the town with the noises of barter and banter.

After finishing their meal, the three boys decided to go out and explore the small town. Makoto handed Haruka a small pouch. Frowning, Haruka opened it, revealing two silver coins inside. He turned towards Makoto questioningly.

"I know that you don't have any money at the moment, so here's something to start you off. You're going to need to get several things if you're going to survive on your own"

Haruka shook his head, handing the pouch back towards Makoto. "I don't need it, I'll find a way to get some money on my own. Besides, didn't you say that you didn't have a lot of money to begin with?"

Makoto refused to take back the pouch, and shook his head at him. "Honestly Haru… you're being a bit too stubborn. I'm giving that to you as a gift, and I'm not going to take it back. It's not like we don't have enough money to survive, besides I'm going to earn a lot more money by selling items here." He smiled at Haruka. "I know that you don't want to leech of off us for survival, but you only just woke up here. Nagisa and I know this place far better than you do, so you can lean on us a little. Okay?"

Haruka gaped at the man in front of him. _How could he be so kind? _Haruka stared down at his feet. "Why are you helping me?"

Haruka stiffened, a warm hand was tussling his hair. He glanced up to see Makoto's smiling face. "I'm doing this because I think what Nagisa said yesterday was true, I think that we are going to be good friends."

Haruka felt his face redden. He pushed the hand away and forced his way out of the tavern door. He could swear he felt Makoto's eyes staring after him. He needed to get away from these people for a little while, they were making him act strangely. Haruka shuffled outside, mingling in with the flowing crowd of people.

Where had all these people come from? When they had first arrived at the village, it was practically empty. Now, the town was bustling. People weaved in and out of the streets, chatting with friends and purchasing various items from scattered stands. It was surprisingly lively. Haruka glanced around, examining the various buildings and shops that littered the streets.

The village's shopping stands were odd, each one sporting a different shape or theme. Some were neat and rectangular, others were twisted and wiry, flashing different sets of lights and decorated with bright splashes of color. It looked like at some point the future and past had clashed together, forming a strange mixture of old fashioned yet highly technological structures. Haruka was once again blown away by how mysterious this world was.

As he strolled the streets, stopping at the occasional stand, Haruka noticed Nagisa in the distance. As he worked his way towards him, he noticed that he was chatting with an older male. The older of the two seemed to be trying to shoo Nagisa away, but the later continued to pester him.

"Is that blonde kid a friend of yours?" An old woman had noticed Haruka watching Nagisa's actions.

"Ah, he's not exactly a 'friend', but-"

"Well then be sure to tell him to keep away from that Ryugazaki! That man is absolutely crazy, always rambling on about hypothesizes, and going on and on about how 'beautiful' something is. He's a madman I tell you!"

The lady shuffled away from him, turning the opposite direction of Nagisa and 'Ryugazaki'. Haruka glanced back towards the pair, examining the man. He had short blue hair and violet eyes, and a pair of glasses were hanging over his face. He seemed to have finally convinced Nagisa to leave him be, then darted away from the blonde haired boy as fast as possible. Nagisa laughed, then noticed Haruka watching him.

"Oh, hello Haru-chan! I just met a really neat guy! He talks all funny and scientifically, it's so fun to talk to him!"

Haruka frowned, staring after the fleeing man. Nagisa must have really terrified him. "What were you talking to him about?"

"Oh, well I noticed he was carrying a lot of different plants, so I was wondering where he had gotten them. It turns out, Rei-chan went off and found them himself! He's trying to study them or something, I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention to his explanation."

Nagisa turned back towards where the man had disappeared to, now lost in the crowd. "He doesn't seem to have a lot of friends here… So I decided I'll be his friend! Everyone needs friends!"

Haruka snorted at Nagisa's innocent comment. "I think it's a bit more complicated than that Nagisa… You can't just pester someone until they become your friend. It doesn't work that way."

Nagisa smirked.

"Just watch me."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: PROCESSING DATA

_Disclaimer: I do not own Free! or any of the characters found within it._

Dusk was beginning overwhelm the light of day. Haruka began to head back to the inn, lugging along the items he had managed to acquire from the market's shops. Some of the items he had bought consisted of a large backpack, a portable sleeping bag, a small knife, and several sets of protective clothing. Haruka had also bought a small pouch used for carrying water, and several small bags.

It wasn't long before Haruka found his way back to the inn. He opened the inn door, feeling a rush of warm air flow outward. He hadn't realized how cold it had gotten outside. A tiny fire was flickering at the corner of the room, warming its surroundings. Haruka quickly approached it, then stretched out his arms towards the flame, warming them up. His body relaxed, tension draining from his stiff shoulders. Dragging all of that equipment around was going to definitely make his muscles sore the morning.

Haruka heard someone's footsteps. Looking behind him towards the noise, Haruka saw Gou enter the room, carrying several packets of paper. She proceeded to her desk, then began to organize the paper into piles. Briefly looking up from her work, she noticed Haruka's presence in the room. Gou gave him a warm smile.

"Evening Haruka, did you enjoy the town?" Gou questioned.

Haruka gave her a curt nod. "It's fine… I guess."

Gou sighed, leaning back onto the wall. "It's pretty different, yeah? This place, this town, this world…" She paused a brief moment, then continued. "But I don't think it's a bad place. The people here don't seem like dangerous folk. Everyone is just confused, I'm sure that everything will work itself out in time. The people who already lived here have welcomed us with open arms, despite our strange past. Or lack thereof."

"Already lived here?" Haruka frowned. "People have been living here before we came along? I mean, they were born here? Raised here?"

"Yes," Gou nodded. "There were people here before we, people without memory, began to appear. They were born here, raised here, and have died here. They are confused as to where we came from, but they hold no malice towards us. In fact, I would bet that without them we would have all died off by now! Eaten from monsters, or exposure to the strange terrain, we would be dead without their help."

This was the first time Haruka had heard of this. Apparently not everyone in this world had come from another like him. He supposed Gou's reasoning made sense, if these people holding knowledge didn't exist then there would be few living people in this world. Haruka had been helped by others who understood the world better than himself, if not for their help it was extremely likely that he would be dead, or still wandering the plains disoriented and alone.

Guilt pricked at him. Makoto and Nagisa had saved his life, and Haruka had done nothing to show his appreciation. In fact, all he had done was waste their supplies and taken their money. What amount of good was he to them?

The inn door swung open, snapping Haruka from his thoughts. Makoto walked in, groaning in relief to be out of the cold. He noticed Haruka beside the warm fireplace, and hurried over to join him. Makoto settled down beside Haruka, basking in the soothing warmth of the fireplace.

Makoto gazed into the orange fire. "It's pretty cold outside, it's a relief that we're able to sleep indoors tonight! I doubt those spare clothes would have done you much good Haru."

Haruka nodded in agreement. Makoto continued to gaze at the fire for several more moments, then scanned the room. "Hey," Makoto began. "Where's Nagisa? Is he here?"

Gou shook her head. "I haven't seen him since he left with you guys earlier. Is something the matter?

"No…" Makoto frowned. "It's just a bit unusual for him not to be here by now. Normally he's the first one to always arrive back at wherever we're staying. He always will complain at me for taking so long to get back, because he can't eat dinner until I get back. Nagisa doesn't really know how to handle money… or proper food portions. So I'm the one who carries it around. I wonder if-"

Makoto didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before the inn door swung open, shaking the room with its force. Nagisa burst in, laughing while waving a pair of glasses around. Another man trailed hurriedly after him, trying to catch up with the smaller boy. Haruka recognized him as the man Nagisa had been talking to earlier. Nagisa must have been serious when he had said he wanted to be this man's friend.

The man from earlier looked irritated. No, he looked extremely irritated. What had Nagisa done to him?

"Nagisa! I insist that you return those glasses to me immediately! I cannot see well without their assistance!" The man lumbered after Nagisa, the later easily avoiding him. Nagisa's face was red, and he seemed to be almost choking on his laughter. The two raced around the room, like a game of cat and mouse. Haruka, Makoto, and Gou watched the two, speechless.

Nagisa seemed to have finally tired out, flopping lifelessly onto the wooden floor. The other man huffed, and reached for the glasses in Nagisa's hand. Just when it seemed that he had them, Nagisa jerked his hand away. The man glared.

"You truly are persistent aren't you…?" The man seethed.

"Aw…" Nagisa sighed. "But you wouldn't have come here if I didn't make you! You just needed some encouragement, that's all."

"Well congratulations! I'm here. You managed to get me to chase you for approximately ten minutes straight, now may I please have my glasses back?!"

Nagisa shook his head. "Not yet! If I give them to you now, you'll just leave straight away! As long as I have these, you'll have to stay and listen to what I have to say, right?"

The man huffed, shaking his head at Nagisa. He noticed the other people in the room watching him, then stumbled backwards, face reddening in embarrassment. "A-ah! I hadn't r-realized that others were observing us… My apologies for bursting in here so suddenly." He dipped his head.

Gou let out a small laugh. "Oh it's fine! It's perfectly fine… Say, haven't I seen you around town before? You're… Rei Ryukazaki right? The one who is always looking for rare plants and such…"

Rei straightened himself, then let out a grin of self-appreciation. "Indeed I am! I see that my exploits are becoming quite famous! You mam, are Gou Matsouka yes? The innkeeper?"

"Yes that's me!" Gou narrowed her eyes at him. "Also, I'm not so sure that you're 'exploits' are becoming famous, everyone just knows you because of your weird hobby of collecting plants and the way you speak…"

Rei turned away from her in agitation. "A 'weird hobby'? Ha! My research uncovers the most hidden, deepest, darkest secrets of the vegetation of this land! Have you seen the way it twists? The way it turns? The colors it gives off? These plants are an exotic brilliance! They are simply beautiful!"

Gou narrowed her eyes. "You're also known for sleeping outside of town in the forest. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be alone out there at night?! Half of the town thinks you're crazy!"

Nagisa perked up, jumping to his feet. He pointed a finger towards Rei. "That's exactly why I brought you here! You can't just sleep outside on a cold night like this, you'd get sick! Really really sick!"

Rei glared at Nagisa, then quickly snatched his glasses from out of Nagisa's hand. He carefully put them on, adjusting them slightly. Satisfied, he haughtily glared towards Nagisa. "I have no need to stay in this town. I lack the proper funds to stay at proper lodging, and it is much more beautiful to fall asleep under the sky then under a tattered bridge or alleyway."

Nagisa spread his arms, eyes twinkling in excitement. "That's why you should stay here with us for the night! We were given two rooms, and I wouldn't mind sharing."

Makoto stepped forward. "Hold on Nagisa. I understand where you are coming from, but you really should have discussed this with me before deciding something like that on your own! I mean, of course I'd be willing to help Rei out-"

Nagisa let out a loud groan, throwing his hands down by his sides. During this, Rei began to slowly edge towards the door, preparing to make a run for it. Nagisa quickly noticed Rei's movements, and darted over towards the doorway, blocking Rei's chances of escape. Nagisa returned his gaze towards Makoto. "If you're willing to help him out then what's the problem?" Nagisa gestured towards Haruka. "We helped Haru-can out, so we can help Rei-chan out too!"

Rei stomped his foot, his patience snapping. "I don't need anyone's help! I'm perfectly capable of managing on my own, and I do not require anyone's assistance!" He glared at Nagisa, fixing him in his gaze. "And you do not need to continue to pester me! I don't understand how you can continue to go on about wanting to help me, when I require no help at all!"

Nagisa shook his head in indignation. "That's not true! You have no shelter, no money, and no food! It's freezing outside, and did you see the storm yesterday? The weather out there is acting crazy! You're going to die if you keep this up!" Nagisa took several steps towards him, eyes twinkling with determination. "I'm not taking no for an answer."

Rei's shoulders slowly slumped down in defeat. Haruka could see the fight draining from his body, Nagisa's words must have really hit him hard. Rei looked down towards his feet, eyes glazing over. "…You're really not giving me a choice are you?"

Nagisa shook his head. "Nope!"

Gou walked over towards Makoto, twirling two sets of keys on her fingers. She handed one to him, and then gave one to Nagisa. "Now that that's over and done with… I better give you your room keys. Makoto your room is up the stairs and to the right, Nagisa yours is the room directly across from it."

Makoto gaped at Gou's relaxed tone, was she not affected by what had just happened at all? "Erm, are you really okay with Rei staying? We didn't intend to have another person…"

"Don't worry about it!" Gou's eyes twinkled. "It's absolutely fine with me. After all, I have yet another gorgeous male body to look at!" Her eyes swept over Rei's muscled form, inspecting every crevice and bend of his muscles. Haruka shook his head in exasperation, of course she would have ulterior motives to allowing Rei's stay.

Nagisa latched onto Rei's arm, pulling him along towards the stairs leading to their room. Rei allowed himself to be dragged along, uttering several weak protests. Haruka watched their forms continue up the stairs, then vanish. Haruka guessed that meant that Rei was going to stay in Nagisa's room for the time being. _Figures._

If Rei was staying in the room with Nagisa, then Haruka must be staying in the same room as Makoto. Haruka headed towards the stairs, glancing back towards Makoto. "You coming?"

Makoto jerked in surprise. "Ah! Of course… I guess it only makes sense that we would be sharing a room…" He stuttered out. Haruka rolled his eyes. _It took him that long to figure it out?_ He continued up the stairs and towards the door that Gou had directed them to. Makoto quickly followed him up a few moments later.

Makoto reached out and unlocked the door, earning a soft click. The door slowly creaked open, revealing the musty room inside. There were thankfully two beds, a desk, a small couch, and several candles spread throughout different sections of the room. The room itself was rectangular, with two narrow doors leading into what seemed to be a closet and a bathroom. A large window spread across the wall in-between the two beds, revealing the dark town below.

Haruka walked over towards the window, gazing outside. It had gotten quite dark. The streets were completely bare, without a single strand of movement. It was surprisingly peaceful, in contrast to the amount of bustle the town had held during the day. Haruka could see the sky perfectly, casting its watery brilliance onto the sleeping town below. Once again, Haruka was astounded by the curiousness of this world.

A slight creaking noise roused Haruka from his thoughts. Makoto was settling down on the bed to the left of him, gazing at him in curiosity. "Beautiful isn't it? The sky."

"Yeah… it's very beautiful."

Silence filled the room. The two men simply stared at each other, trying to find something to say. Makoto's eyes slid over towards Haruka's back, noticing his backpack. "You should probably put that down… you've been carrying it for a while."

Haruka felt a twinge of embarrassment. He must have been so caught up with the fiasco downstairs that he had forgotten he'd been carrying it. He nodded briskly, setting it down onto the floor beside the bed opposite to Makoto's. Makoto chuckled lightly. "It's embarrassing isn't it? Relax, I've done the same thing a few times. You get so distracted you don't realize how worn out you really are. Thankfully Nagisa is able to point out when I don't notice, or else I would probably wake up sore every morning!"

Haruka looked at Makoto in surprise. How could he sense that Haruka had felt embarrassed? He hadn't really thought that Makoto would be good at reading people. Makoto must have been able to tell how he felt because he had done it before. That had to be it.

"So Haru," Makoto began. "Do you know what you're going to do? Do you have any idea of where you're going to go?"

Haruka narrowed his eyes, glancing back outside the window. That was a good question. What was he going to do from now on? Because of how fast things had been going, he hadn't really considered much of his future plans. He supposed he might be able to find some sort of work in this town, then go from there.

_But… is that what I really want?_ The question rang in Haruka's mind. He pondered over the question for a moment. The more he focused on it, the more uncomfortable he began to feel. A tiny feeling of dread began to prick at him. _But why? Why does the thought of staying here cause me so much anxiety?_

"Haru?"

Makoto snapped him from his thoughts, bringing him back to reality. Makoto was watching him with a concerned look on his face. "Is something the matter?" Makoto asked.

"No… it's nothing. Also to answer your question, I really don't know. I need to give it some thought."

Makoto nodded in understanding. "That's okay. Just so you know, Nagisa and I will be leaving the town in a few days, we need to get moving again soon. If you decide that you want to, you're welcome to come with us."

Haruka blinked. Why would Makoto offer to let him accompany them? He's nothing but a hindrance to them. Maybe he was just trying to be kind. "No, you've done enough for me already. I wouldn't be of any use to you, I know nothing about adventuring or whatever it is you guys do."

"No use? Of course you would be of use! We need all the help we can get out there, besides, Nagisa and I trust you."

"Trust me?"

Makoto nodded. "There are so many people out there, some good some bad. Of all the people we've encountered so far, you're the only one that we've been so… relaxed around. When we first met you, you could have easily been a bandit waiting for unsuspecting travelers to come along, but you weren't. When I gave you a weapon to defend yourself you could have attacked us, but you didn't. We were able to trust you in all of these vulnerable situations, which is something we've never done before."

Makoto paused, then continued. "Also I think… I think that we could become good friends." He said softly.

Haruka looked at him in disbelief, mind reeling. Had they really thought so highly of him?

"I… I'll think about it."

Makoto's eyes shone, a smile creeping up his face. "Thank you…"

Haruka turned away from him, crawling into his bed. He could feel Makoto's warm gaze on him. He could practically see the smile plastered on his face. Haruka buried himself into his sheets, trying to wipe the image from his mind. Makoto's words were still ringing in his ears. _'I think that we could become good friends.' _He hugged the sheets closer to his chest.

"Good night Haru."

"… Good night Makoto."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: DATA OVERLOAD

_Disclaimer: I do not own Free! or any of the characters found within it._

It was morning. Haruka opened his eyes, blinking against the morning light. He slowly sat up, glancing around the room. Makoto was fast asleep, letting out several small snores. Haruka carefully opened his backpack and pulled out a pair of clean clothes. He dressed quickly, then quietly left the room, glancing back make sure he didn't wake Makoto. Satisfied, he shut the door and made his way downstairs.

As he entered the lobby, a musky smell filled his nose. Following the scent past the lobby and to a side room, he found that Nagisa and Rei had already gotten up and were enjoying breakfast. Several bowls of food were lined up on a counter. Nagisa was sitting at a small table, wolfing down his breakfast. Several plates had piled up on top of the table implying that Nagisa had already eaten quite a bit. Rei was a short distance away, picking at his own food. Haruka made his way towards the counter, looking over the array of sorted dishes.

Nagisa perked up, noticing Haruka. "Morning Haru-chan!" He sputtered out through a mouthful of food. Tiny flecks of food dribbled down his chin.

Rei grimaced. "That's vile. Don't speak with your mouth open Nagisa."

Nagisa snorted, then returned to eating. Haruka picked up a small plate and picked out what looked to be some kind of grilled fish. After that he went over towards a table near Rei, and sat down. Rei glanced his way briefly, then returned to picking at his food. Haruka slowly took a small bite of the fish. It was strong and gamy, but it wasn't unpleasant. In fact, he rather liked it. It somewhat reminded him of something he had tasted before... What was it?

He shook off the thoughts, they weren't going to do him any good now. Haruka continued to eat, enjoying the food. He finished a few minutes later. Haruka turned and looked towards Rei. Rei had not made much progress on his own food, only small nibbles.

"You're not hungry?" Haruka asked.

Rei shook his head. "The food here is just a bit too… strong for my tastes."

Nagisa shoveled in another mouthful of food. "I think it's great! There's so much food here that I've never seen before, and it's a buffet! We can eat all we want!" Specks of food splattered across the air. Rei paled, watching the food continue to fall all over Nagisa's table.

"It's not beautiful at all…" Rei grumbled.

Several thumps resonated throughout the room. Makoto was coming down the stairs. Makoto came over to the room where the group sat, his face stretched in a large yawn. He sleepily looked around the room, taking everything in. He smiled drearily. "Good morning everyone," Makoto yawned.

The group uttered a 'good morning' in reply. Makoto made his way over towards the breakfast counter. Haruka watched him pick out several different types of meat. Makoto then made his way over to Haruka's table, wordlessly settling down beside him. Haruka simply sat there in silence, watching Makoto eat. He chewed his food slowly, but did not chew for long before swallowing. How odd.

Makoto managed to finish off his food surprisingly fast. Once he had finished, he raised his head and scanned the room. "Where's Go- er, I mean Kou?"

Haruka glanced around the room. She didn't seem to be around. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her at all this morning. Nagisa swallowed yet another mouthful of food, clearing his throat. "She was down here putting out the food this morning, she left to go get some ingredients from the marketplace. She'll be back soon."

Rei cocked his head slightly to the side, using his hand as a headrest. "Still, she's been gone for quite some time. A bit longer than a routine visit to the market should have taken her," Rei said. "Perhaps something is delaying her."

Curious, Haruka stood up and walked over towards a nearby window. He gazed outside. The streets were strangely bare, and motionless. The stalls which would normally have a crowd surrounding them were empty, not even the merchants were present. Now that Haruka thought about it, he hadn't heard any commotion from outside this morning. If it was a normal day, then he should have been able to hear the bustle of the town from inside the inn. But there was nothing. No sound, no movement, nothing.

"There's no one outside."

Rei looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean 'there is no one outside'? It's the prime time for shoppers to go out before it gets too busy." Rei stood up and came over towards the window, rambling as he walked. "In fact, the possibility that no one is outside at such an optimal time is so small that-", Rei's voice cut off as he glanced out the window. He stood still, dumbstruck.

By now Makoto and Nagisa had crowded around the window too. They waited there for a few minutes, simply watching, waiting, to see if anything would happen. Still nothing. Rei reached up towards his eyes, adjusting the position of his glasses. He turned away from the group, towards the door. "I'm going outside to investigate…" He muttered.

Haruka wordlessly trailed after him. He was also curious as to what was going on. Nagisa and Makoto quickly followed behind him. Stepping outside the inn, Haruka felt the chill of the morning air. The cold stung his cheeks, reddening them. There was a soft wind blowing, sending a small scrap of paper laying in the street tumbling along down the road. There was still no sign of the missing civilians.

Nagisa opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly hushed by Rei. "Shh! Be quiet… listen… do you hear that?" Rei whispered.

Haruka strained his ears, trying to pick up on whatever it was Rei was hearing. A soft noise was echoing in the distance, so soft it could have easily been mistaken for the sound of the wind. He couldn't make out exactly what it was, but it couldn't be coming from too far away. Rei pointed towards a small street leading east. "It's coming from down that way."

"I'm going to go check it out." Makoto said, stepping forward.

"I'll go with you." Rei joined in.

Nagisa growled, stamping his foot in irritation. "I'm not going to wait here until you come back! I'm coming with you too!"

"Let's just all go, standing here talking about it won't let us know what it is." Haruka huffed, making his way down from the doorway and into the street. The others must have agreed with his reasoning, as they quickly caught up with him. As he continued to walk down the road, the noise gradually began to grow louder. A collection of muffled voices, hushed whispers, and quieted tones began to fill the air. So there were people in the town. But what were they all doing?

A large crowd had gathered near the town's entrance. People were lined up, gazing out towards the open fields outside of town. _What is going on? _Makoto gently nudged Haruka's shoulder.

"Look," he pointed towards a section of the crowd. A flash of long red hair caught Haruka's eye. "It's Kou. What is she doing here?"

Haruka and the others worked their way through the crowd and toward the familiar figure. "Gou!" Rei called out. The redhead stiffened, then turned towards Rei, furious.

"It's pronounced Kou! You called me Gou yesterday too… I let it slide that time, but no more! Call me Kou!"

Haruka sighed. It seemed like Gou was fine, she was certainly still spirited. "Never mind that, what is going on here? Practically the entire town has gathered here," he questioned.

"Take a look for yourself." Gou shifted to the side, allowing the boys room to come into the space beside her. Gou pointed east, the raised her arm towards the sky. "Look over there."

A tiny ball of orange light was flickering, practically invisible against the sky. It was partially hidden behind a large mountain, Haruka felt amazed that anyone could have even managed to see it. It didn't seem to be anything special, especially considering the conditions of the world they were in. _The town has gathered here for something as small as this?_

"That's it? That's what everyone is so worked up about? Ha! How ridiculous." Rei puffed. "I'm heading back to the inn… I can't believe everyone in this town is worked up over something so insignificant!" He let out a burst of laughter.

"Rei!" Gou snapped. "This is not 'insignificant', we've never seen anything like this here! This has never happened in this town before."

Rei waved her off. "That is simply the light of a burning tower behind the mountain. I've heard rumors of many great pillars out beyond the mountains, one must have caught aflame." His face was twisted in an amused grin. "I can't believe that I was actually getting worked up about this! Oh, you have fun watching your little fire. I won't linger here any longer."

Haruka watched Rei haughtily turn away, walking back towards the inn head held high. Gou let out a groan of aggravation. She opened her mouth to speak, but seemed to think better of it. She turned back towards the light, sighing. Haruka felt Makoto shift uncomfortably beside him.

"Kou, maybe Rei is right. This seems like a bit of an overreaction to a barely visible ball of light." Makoto reasoned.

Gou glared at him, furious. "It is not an overreaction! The elders of this town were the ones who pointed it out! They have a bad feeling about it, a really bad feeling!"

"Kou-"

"Listen to me! I know this town a lot better than you guys do. So I know the elders of this town know this place better than anybody. They were born here, unlike us. When they sense something is wrong, something is really wrong. I get that it may seem really stupid to you, but it is really important to the people of this town!"

Makoto winced. "Sorry… I didn't mean to offend you… I was just trying to say…" His voice trailed off.

Nagisa jumped up, trying to get a better view of the light. "I wonder what it is."

Haruka returned his gaze to the light. Suddenly, it shifted. The crowd's murmurs began to grow quiet. The light flickered and wavered, seemingly dancing in the sky. It slowly began to stretch upward, reaching towards the blue morning sky. It was practically scraping the edge of the sky, when the light leapt up from behind the mountain. It soared through the air. A long fiery missile, then began to fall towards the ground.

Haruka felt his throat grow dry. His heartbeat began to speed up, pounding in his ears like a drum. Screams of panic ripped through the air. The light had risen up high into the air, and was now falling down from the sky. But that wasn't the problem, it was coming down directly towards the town, and fast. It edged closer, Haruka could see that the light was made of a swirling mesh of fire. People rushed past him, screaming and trying to find shelter. Haruka couldn't move; he was frozen to the spot. He wanted to move his legs but found that he couldn't, they had become as heavy as rocks. He simply stared up, watching as the inferno came closer.

A hand reached out, seizing him by the arm. Makoto had grabbed onto him, and was dragging him alongside him. He stumbled along, trying to find his feet as he allowed himself to be dragged. Makoto glanced town at him.

"Snap out of it! We're not going to die here today." He hissed.

Haruka nodded, forcing himself to steady his feet. He shook off Makoto's hand, racing along beside him. People were flowing all around him, entering buildings, slamming doors, and some simply stood still, waiting for their fate just as Haruka had. He looked around wildly, searching for anything that could be used as cover. His eyes settled on an old stone pipe, leaning partly against a large pile of scraps and rubbish. He nudged Makoto, directing him towards it. Makoto nodded, then began to sprint towards the pipe.

They crawled inside of the narrow pipe, getting as close to the middle as possible. A loud rumbling began to fill the air. The ground began to quake, causing the pipe they were hiding in the rattle ceaselessly. Panic began to fill Haruka's mind. What if the pipe broke? He curled up, placing his hands over his head. It was so loud. The screams that filled the air only increased in volume. It was maddening. It was evil. It was torture.

Makoto lifted his head in a panic. "Where's Nagisa?!"

Sweeping his head left to right, there was no sign of the blonde haired boy. Makoto began to desperately scramble out towards the open. Haruka snatched his foot. Makoto jerked his head back towards Haruka, eyes blazing. "Let go! I have to go find him! He's in danger!"

"Are you crazy? There's no time for that! If you go out there, you'll die!" Haruka spat.

"But he will-!"

"Nagisa is small and quick, he will be fine. Just listen-"

Haruka didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. A huge explosion roared overhead, drowning out anything he could have managed to say. Heat exploded down onto the ground, burning Haruka's skin. Makoto had pulled back, crashing into him. The entire world was drenched in fire. The ground continued to shake, knocking Haruka's head against the rough pipe. The screams that had filled the air were killed off, only the sickening sound of the raging flames could be heard.

Haruka could feel the intensity of the heat charring his skin. Red welts were beginning to creep over his arms. It was unbearable, it was sick, he might rather die than live to suffer this madness! He could hear buildings collapsing around him, their structure disintegrating under the deadly flames. Makoto began to tremble beside him. Tiny inaudible weeps wracked his body. Haruka felt the urge to cry alongside him, lost and afraid under the hellfire. The flames were completely surrounding them, licking at them with their burning rage. This was hell, there could be no other proper word to describe it. The raging fire, the cut off screams, the sound of buildings falling, it had to be hell.

Then, the shaking stopped. The sound of crackling fire filled the air. Haruka lifted his head slightly, peering out of the pipe. Tiny shards of flame scattered the ground, but the main inferno that had been licking at them was gone. Haruka felt desperate, wanting to slink out of the pipe and start running, never looking back. He slowly attempted to crawl out, his arms trembling under his weight. He felt someone grab ahold of his foot. Makoto had snatched onto him, and was refusing to let him go. He was about to jerk away, when Makoto lifted his head. Tears were cluttered at the edge of his eyes, dribbling down his cheeks.

"Don't go."

Haruka could barely make out the words, they were so choked up. Makoto clenched his hand around his leg tighter, trembling at the effort it took. Haruka felt something break inside him at the sight of that tear stained face. _Why had this happened to them?_ Haruka returned towards the quivering Makoto. Once he had gotten close enough, Makoto reached out, pulling Haruka close to him. His arms wrapped around Haruka's body, squeezing him. Makoto buried his face into Haruka's shoulder, sobbing. Haruka felt his body trembling against him. Whether it was out of fear, sorrow, or horror he couldn't tell. Perhaps it was a mix of all three.

Haruka remained there, snuggled against Makoto as the world quietly burned outside. He wasn't sure how long they stayed there. Perhaps it had only been a few minutes, or it could have been countless hours. All track of time was lost on him. It's not like it mattered much to him now anyway.

When Makoto finally stopped trembling, Haruka carefully pulled away. As hard as it was, they needed to get out of there. They couldn't stay inside forever. He grasped Makoto's hand, pulling him along beside him. Makoto went along with it, holding onto his hand as if it was a lifeline. He crawled out of the pipe, his free hand brushing against the ground. A sharp pain coursed through it, the ground was burning hot. Hissing, he jerked it back into his chest.

"Don't touch the ground," Haruka grunted, unsure if Makoto had even heard him.

Haruka carefully shifted out of the pipe on his feet, thankful for the thick shoes he bought the other day. He pulled Makoto up beside him, careful to make sure that he wasn't burned. Makoto wavered for a moment, then steadied himself. Haruka waited to make sure he was okay, then surveyed the town.

The town was filled with smoke and falling debris. Charred buildings lined the streets, blackened by the fire. Several small fires burned on top of the charred rubble, sending puffs of black smoke into the air. The small merchant shops that had littered the marketplace were gone, they had vanished into piles of ash. The town was completely destroyed.

Haruka felt sick. The scent of ash and charred flesh filled his nose. He wanted to kneel over and vomit. Tiny specks of ash rained down from the sky, covering his body with white burning flecks. He looked up, watching the ash rain down from the sky above blanketing the blackened world in white.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: DELETED

_Disclaimer: I do not own Free! or any of the characters found within it._

Everything was gone. The buildings, the citizens, the town itself, all of it was gone. Haruka wandered around the smoldering remains in a daze. Every footstep, every twitch of his head, only made him more and more aware of this fact. His head was spinning from the aroma of the smoke. Haruka could feel his charred skin slowly peeling off. Pus leaked down from his burns, sticking to his body like wax.

Ash continued to float down from the sky, coating the pus and blood seeping from Haruka's wounds. He felt like sandpaper. Everything burned and hurt to move. Haruka wasn't even sure why he was still walking, or where he was trying to go. He supposed he was trying to keep his shock from taking over him. If he collapsed here, he would most likely die from choking on the debris.

Makoto shuffled along behind him, still clutched to his hand. Makoto was having trouble staying focused, his footsteps being dangerously uneven and kicking up clouds of ash. His eyes were wide and haunted, looking at everything and nothing. He was in serious danger of collapsing, Haruka knew that he definitely needed to keep him moving.

Out of the corner of his eye, Haruka noticed something shift. Something was squirming amongst the debris. He rushed towards it; could it be another survivor? A hand had poked out from beneath the ashes of a collapsed building. It was twitching slightly, seemingly trying to worm its way out. Haruka reached out and grasped it, hauling it upward. A sickening _Rrrrrriiiip _echoed throughout the air.

The hand had torn off, and was dangling in his grasp. Hunks of charred meat flopped ungracefully onto the ground. A small slimy creature emerged from where the hand had been lodged. It looked up at Haruka with its beady little eyes, begging like a dog would. Haruka stared. The creature let out a small noise of annoyance, then began to lap up the fallen hunks of meat. Haruka jerked backwards in horror, sending the severed hand flying away. The creature hurriedly scampered after it.

A soft _plop _resonated behind him. Makoto had fainted. His collapsed body send up a white cloud of dust into the air, the ashes whirling in a small spiral. Haruka crawled over towards his body, pulling it against his own. Makoto's hair was laced with the ashes, looking like he was covered in snow. Haruka tried to haul him up, but couldn't find the strength and crashed down onto the ground. A numbing emptiness was working its way up Haruka's body. Darkness loomed over the edges of his vision.

"No… no, no, no…"

Haruka moaned, struggling to stay awake. Reality was catching up on him. His body was too strained, and was forcing itself to shut down. He slumped down onto the ground, drowning himself in a pile of ashes. His vision was wavering, nothing would stay in focus anymore. The world was all fading into a grey blur. He slowly closed his eyes, allowing the numbness to work its way over him. He couldn't do it anymore. If he died now, then maybe he could be at peace.

_Thump._

Haruka twitched. Had he heard something? Everything was so dim, he couldn't tell if it was real or if he had just imagined it.

_ Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump._

No, it was definitely real. Something was… moving? It was slowly getting louder. They sounded like footsteps, no… They were footsteps. Haruka could hear the dust being kicked up by the person's feet. A shadow stretched over Haruka's eyes, darkening the vision behind his eyelids. There was a slight shifting noise, then something snatched the back of Haruka's shirt, hauling him upward. He felt his feet scrape against the ground, dragging along piles of debris. Was he being… dragged?

Haruka strained to open his eyes. Darkness was threatening to overwhelm his vision, but through the black abyss he could make out two figures. One was carrying him, the other looked to have grabbed Makoto. He struggled to make out any defining features, but everything was still too blurred. Dizziness was spiraling in Haruka's head, making him sick. He struggled to stay conscious for a moment longer, but ultimately gave in to the nauseating darkness.

It was cold. So cold. Haruka's body felt like it was lying on a sheet of ice. He felt himself sinking down into the bitter cold, his body slowly melting away and merging with the frozen floor. It was like his body was slowly draining away into a bleak nothingness. He cracked open his eyes only to see nothing. There was no light, there was no darkness, just an empty void of nothingness. Was he alive? Dead? He wasn't able to tell, maybe he was stuck somewhere in-between.

Haruka wasn't afraid of dying. Most people would struggle to fight off death's clutches until their last breath, but Haruka wasn't like them. In fact, he considered the idea rather soothing. He had woken up in a fairy tale world with no friends, no memories, and no family. Just when he thought that maybe things were going to get better, Bam! A hellfire had fallen from the damn sky. There was so much death, so much destruction, and for what? For the destruction of a tiny village? What would be the point in that? It was all so meaningless, bland and meaningless. _What's the point in living any longer? Why shouldn't I just give up here?_

_ Give up. _Those two words stirred something in him, something so remote he could barely feel it. Give up? Give up on what? Life? Living? No… None of those things were right. But he thought he could feel something, no- he knew that he felt something. There was something not adding up. It felt like dying here would hurt him somehow. Wrong, hurt wasn't the right word. If he died here he would BETRAY someone, or something. But what? What was the purpose in his life? What was he trying to do do?

Haruka began to struggle. He forced himself to try to claw his way out of the ground, out of the sinking cold. The ground was sticky and web-like, pulling itself along with his arms as they forced their way upwards. He was going to get out of this place, he was going to live. The void was resisting his efforts, trying to pull him back down. Haruka hissed, jerking one arm free. The sound of snapping rubber resonated through his eyes. He snatched his other arm, ripping it out of the invisible field. He pulled himself up, tearing through nothingness. Then, the entire world shattered, as if made by a fragile glass. It fell and fell, flooding Haruka's vision with burning light.

Haruka saw the sky. He was lying on his back, staring up at the grey morning. He lifted his head, back creaking in the movement. He was lying down on the floor of some kind of half-burned building. The walls were made of a mixture of stone and pavement, making this place fortunately quite fire-resistant. The only major casualty the structure of building had suffered was the roof, which had probably been composed of woof or some other flammable material. Haruka forced himself into a sitting position. He felt weak and hungry. His throat felt like it was filled with sandpaper. How long had he been lying here?

Those two people from before… they must have brought him here. A slight shifting noise sounded through the still air. A body lay crumpled on the floor, not too far from where Haruka himself had been resting. Makoto. Haruka dragged himself towards the collapsed form. Makoto was stretched out on his side, still and motionless. Haruka reached out to check his breathing. His fingers lightly brushed the tips of Makoto's hair. Makoto stiffened slightly, flinching away from the foreign fingers. So he was alive then. Haruka let out a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted right now was for there to be even more death.

Haruka shook Makoto, trying to rouse him awake.

"Makoto… Makoto… wake up… Makoto!" Haruka's voice was hoarse, and wheezy.

Makoto's eyes opened to tiny slits. He looked so tired, so weak. Makoto opened his mouth in attempt to reply, but all that came out was a mangled cough. Haruka shook him rougher, afraid that he was going to fall back asleep. Makoto winced, lightly prodding his hands.

"Hurts…"

Haruka looked down, noticing that he had been shaking Makoto by holding onto his shoulders, an area that was covered in festering burns. Haruka carefully removed his hands, grimacing at the thick pus that had leaked out onto his hands. He wiped his hands down his shirt.

"Sorry, I … got a bit… panicked…"

Makoto jerked his head in a motion that seemed to be a nod.

"Where… is this?"

"I'm not sure, I think it's some kind of… stone building."

Something wet smacked against Haruka's head. He looked up. Was it… rain? More and more droplets of water began to fall, smacking against the cool flooring.

Makoto giggled, giving Haruka a sheepish grin.

"Look Haru… The sky is crying."

"Huh?"

Makoto began to laugh harder, his body shaking. "The sky! It always looks like the reflection of water… and the water begins to fall when we really need it. The sky looked at our miserable faces and is crying for us."

Makoto must have really lost it. Not that Haruka could blame him, any sane person could snap under these circumstances.

Haruka opened his mouth, trying to catch some of the falling raindrops and soothe his aching thirst. Fortunately, the rain was coming down surprisingly hard, allowing him to get a decent amount into his mouth. Haruka cupped his hands together, collecting a small pool of water into his hands. He shoved it towards Makoto, who had been merely watching him the whole time, never attempting to get any of the water himself.

"Drink it."

Makoto stared.

"You need to drink it, I'll force you if I have to. You've saved my life twice, and I'm not a person who won't return the favor."

Makoto hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward and slurped it down. A good half of it had dribbled out of his hands, but at least Makoto had drank something. Makoto glanced up at Haruka, eyes slowly softening. The crazed look from before was fading away, the real Makoto was returning.

"Thank you."

Haruka shook his head. "It's nothing, just try to drink as much as possible."

Makoto nodded in agreement, tilting his head upward towards the sky just as Haruka had done. Haruka found that drinking the water was a bit difficult at first, it was hard to swallow and he felt like he was going to choke on it, but found that the more he drank the easier it became. His body slowly became more accustomed to the presence of moisture again, bringing back his voice and washing the scratchiness out of his throat. The rain was also soothing for his burns, cooling them off and washing some of the soot off of the wounds. The stickiness of dried blood and sweat gently flowed off of their bodies, cleansing them.

They remained this way for a few minutes, drinking and cleansing themselves. After they had managed to scrub off most the soot on their skin, Haruka began to feel confusion and horror begin to gnaw at him. He began to try to recount the previous events in his mind. They had been wandering around the town searching for survivors when… Haruka recalled the vision of the torn arm. His stomach gave a lurch. Haruka forced himself to shove the mental image aside. After that he remembered collapsing. And then…

Then there had been two people. _So they dragged us here then left?_ He knew that they must have been unconscious for at least a day, and there was no sign of the two people from before. What had happened to them? Also, if there were at least two people out there…

"Makoto!"

Makoto lurched at Harukas sudden outburst. Haruka slowly stood up, quivering in concentration.

"Do you remember how we got here? Anything at all?"

Makoto hesitated. "Well, not really… I remember briefly waking up and feeling like I was being carried, but after that nothing. It's all blank."

"Don't you get it Makoto? We didn't wind up in this place on our own."

Makoto tilted his head, clearly confused. Then, as he processed Harukas words, realization began to light up his eyes.

"See? Now you know what I'm getting at." Haruka slowly began to walk over to Makoto, each step painfully slow. "If we didn't come to this place on our own, that means that there's others out there. There have to be other survivors in the town. We aren't alone… Maybe-"

"Nagisa! Nagisa was all alone out there when… What if… What if-!" Makoto stopped his outburst, his body trembling. "No… I won't believe that. If we survived, Nagisa must have survived. You said it yourself, there have to be other survivors. He has to be alive…"

Makoto pushed himself up, summoning up all the strength he could muster. Makoto narrowed his eyes. Watching Makoto, Haruka noticed Makoto's body begin to rejuvenate itself, slowly restoring its lost energy. Makoto looked over towards Haruka, trapping his gaze.

"Nagisa is alive. And we are going to go out there and find him."


End file.
